The History of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards
Published On Feb 24, 2017
It was in 2011 that one of India's most admired automobile manufacturers, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division (MTBD), a part of the multinational auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., decided to take the commercial vehicle game to the next level by honouring individuals and institutions with awards for their critical roles in the transport industry in India. The challenge that the group had taken was enormous; no organization had previously attempted to encourage stakeholders in the Indian commercial vehicle space in such a manner before. MTBD believed that recognizing unsung heroes in the commercial vehicle space in India would not only provide them with their share of respect and dignity (that the transportation industry lacked at that point of time), but also instill a benchmark and inspire others to work towards the same. And thus, began the inception of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards.
The awards encompass almost all stakeholders of the trucking industry including fleet owners, dealers, transport companies, truck drivers and even dhaba owners. Let us trace back the different editions of the esteemed award ceremony since its inception in 2011.
Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2011
Mahindra held its first ever Transport Excellence Awards on December 20, 2011 at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi. The event witnessed top level executives of Mahindra Group sharing space with Chief Guest Mr. Praful Patel, the then Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.
The first ever ‘Highway Dhaba’ award in the Indian CV segment went to Mr. Ravindra Singh of R K Food Point Dhaba. The first ‘Super Outperformer Driver of the Year 2011’ went to Mr Abdul Ghani, fleet driver in Professional Automotives Ltd., who was gifted with a brand new Mahindra Navistar MN25 Truck. The event also witnessed several other winners in different categories spanning fleet owners to transporters.
Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2012
Held on January 9, 2013, the second edition of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards witnessed 60 percent more entries than the previous year. The award evening again saw a gala gathering of people from all verticals of the transportation industry under one roof. A total of 38 RISE Pillar trophies, including 28 regional and 10 national, were given away for categories involving fleet owners, dhaba owners, fleet drivers and highway mechanics.
This award ceremony was a crucial benchmark for the transport industry as Mahindra also unveiled its new MPOWER (Management Development Program) initiative during the event. Over the years, MPOWER has become an extremely coveted program in the trucking industry, providing high level short-term trainings to nextgen transporters at one of India’s most recognized B-schools, IIM Ahmedabad.
Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2013
Keeping up with its effort to encourage people from the transportation industry, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division ushered in its third edition of Mahindra Transport Excellence awards on January 9, 2014.
Mr. Oscar Fernandes, the then Union Cabinet Minister of Road Transport & Highways, inaugurated the event by lighting the lamps. Next came a panel discussion on Road Safety by eminent personalities of the transport industry. As the evening progressed, Mahindra rolled out many new awards, including felicitation of the country's first Lady Truck Driver, Ms. Yogita Raghuvanshi. Yogita moved the audience with her brave story of daring to penetrate a hugely male dominated industry and was gifted with a brand new Mahindra truck, Truxo 25, by Mahindra Truck and Bus Divison.
Mr. Mahendra Singh Rajput won ‘Super Outperformer’ award of the year. However, the fleet owner awards grabbed the limelight with 16 winners from eight segments. This year too, Mahindra announced a new one-of-its-kind initiative, educating daughters of trucks drivers through the Girl Child Scholarship under the banner of Mahindra Saarth Abhiyaan.
Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2014
The evening of February 25, 2015 was something to look out for, as several stakeholders in the trucking industry were to be awarded the prestigious Transport Excellence Awards 2014.
Entries were judged on several parameters including Outperformance, Excellence, Innovation and Change Leadership.
The event started with a very engaging panel discussion featuring Mr. Sanjay Bandopadhayaya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as the moderator.
The ceremony witnessed 36 winners out of 2300 entries taking home the top awards of the trucking industry. ‘The Lady Transport Personality of the Year' award was given to Ms. Hema Prava Devi, an LPG transporter hailing from the North East.
Also, for the first time, Mahindra conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. D. P. Agarwal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of TCI Ltd.
Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2015
The fifth edition of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards was held on March 4, 2016, at Hotel Ashoka, New Delhi. The award night saw the who's who of Indian road transport sector giving out awards to the various outperformers of Indian Transport Industry.
The panel discussion on ‘Making Truck Driving an Attractive Profession - Tackling Driver Shortage’ was presided by Mr. Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India. Mr.Nalin Mehta presented the report card of the awards program and highlighted the significance of the RISE awards.
The highlight of the evening was the Safety Awards (for promoting safe driving), conferred at the behest of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Several awards were doled out throughout the evening including separate awards for the tipper and mining segment.
Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Honourable Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas graced the ceremony and applauded Mahindra for its untiring efforts for recognizing the unsung heroes of the undignified transport sector.